Principles for determining the access status of records on transfer

First published: May 2016

Reviewed: June 2019

© Crown copyright 2019

You may re-use this publication (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0. To view this licence visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence; or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 4DU; or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.

Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to us at governmentaudience@nationalarchives.gov.uk Contents Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 3 Transfer or retention .............................................................................................................................. 3 Closure on transfer ............................................................................................................................... 3 General access principles .................................................................................................................... 4 Introduction

Public records selected for permanent preservation should be transferred to The National Archives or an approved place of deposit no later than 20 years after creation, unless the Secretary of State authorises a department to keep them for longer. This can include where a legacy collection has been inherited or a backlog of records awaiting selection and transfer has occurred.

Departments should have effective arrangements to determine which records should be selected for permanent preservation and whether they should be retained in the department, designated as open on transfer, or transferred as closed.

The process of determining whether records should be transferred open, retained or if access should be restricted (the record transferred closed as Freedom of Information (FOI) exemptions apply) is called ‘sensitivity review’.

Transfer or retention

When sensitivity reviewing records, departments may identify records which are appropriate for retention within the department beyond 20 years, under section 3(4) of the Public Records Act 1958 (PRA) (see guidance on Retention of public records by departments). Departments should submit applications to retain records to The National Archives for review and advice. The Advisory Council on National Records and Archives (Advisory Council) will then consider the case in favour of retention of the record beyond the 20 year period. The retention of individual records will be considered by the Advisory Council, unless there is a standing authorisation already in place for the retention of a whole category of records (known as ‘blanket’ retentions). It will consider such applications on the basis of the guidance in chapter 9 of the White Paper Open Government (Cm 2290, 1993) or subsequent revisions of government policy on retention. If it is satisfied with the application, the Advisory Council will recommend approval by the Secretary of State.

Closure on transfer

Public records transferred to archives services should be made available for public inspection (transferred as open) unless exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) have been identified and are considered to still apply at the time of transfer. This includes exemption under the Environmental Information Regulations and prohibitions on access in other legislation.

Restrictions on public access should only be in place with good reason, giving due weight to the passage of time. In reviewing records for release, departments should ensure that records become available to the public at the earliest possible date, and if they are to be transferred as closed, the date when the closure period will be ended or reviewed should be specified.

Those interested have a right to make an FOI request for a closed record at any time. Closed records must be reviewed if a request is received and the review process includes consultation with the transferring or responsible department which, for public records, is a requirement under the FOIA s66.

**General access principles**

Greater openness is of long term benefit both to the citizen and to the Government. The FOIA contains exemptions to protect legitimate interests and sensitivities but public access should not be restricted unless there is good reason to do so.

Transferring authorities should identify which records require closure on transfer; which FOI exemptions apply and why; and how long records should be held as closed by archives services before they are either opened or re-reviewed.

**Closure should be specific**

Transferring departments should specify the grounds for closing records under the FOIA and explain why exemptions apply. These details may be withheld from the public if the exemption and/or its application are sensitive (for example information supplied by security bodies).

In cases where qualified exemptions apply, records should remain closed where the public interest in keeping them closed outweighs that of making them available. Departments should identify which records, or potentially which parts of records, require closure and apply restrictions appropriately. Large numbers of records should not be closed if only a few actually contain sensitive information. If there are multiple reasons for closure then identify all of them.

**Closure should be for a limited time span**

Closure should be for a finite time as sensitivity reduces over time. For personal data this is the lifetime of the individual. In certain circumstances it is not always possible at the time of transfer to identify a specific date at which records can be opened. In this case a date should be set for when the record should be reviewed by the department to assess whether continued closure is required, this is usually periods of ten years, in line with the re-review provisions of retention.

Closure periods are set from the end date of the record rather than from an incident or specific documents within a file. It is highly unlikely that a closure period beyond 100 years will be required and if they are requested, this needs to be justified to a greater extent. Requests for permanent closure will not be accepted.

**Closure should be applied consistently**

Closure should be consistent with the FOIA and other relevant legislation. Information which a department would provide if it received an FOI request should not be closed on transfer to an archives service. Access conditions should also be consistent with similar information in other transferred records or those created by different departments. Therefore, departments should consult with other authorities as necessary during the sensitivity review process.